A tale of two belts

It was belts that very nearly meant we didn't catch our train to France.

First belt to cause a problem was the belt that makes the twirly brush thing wizz round in the vacuum cleaner. (You know the one.) Because the twirly thing wasn't doing twirling the vacuum cleaner wasn't picking up any dust off the carpets - and did we have a lot of dust! This made Jono's task even more difficult, because he had to use the nozzle and the furniture brush.

JB checks the vacuum cleaner's
lack of suck while Rosie looks on.

At 7.50 I decided it was close enough to 7.30 (our latest feasible departure time) to warrant shutting the house and leaving pronto. We said out thanks and farewells, climbed in the car and drove off. One hundred metres down the road there was an almighty flapping noise from under the bonnet (hood) of the car, which was slightly worrying as we had a fair distance to drive, and a deadline.

I opened the bonnet and all looked normal. Nothing out of place, and no obvious damage. I turned the engine over while Susan watched, and it became evident that the alternator belt was shredding itself and a strand of rubber was whacking bits of engine as it went round. I grabbed my trusty toolbox, took a pair of side cutters, and clipped away as much of the flapping bit as I could. After a couple of goes at turning the engine over and clipping more off I shut the bonnet, we jumped in the car, and decided to risk it. A couple of hundred metres down the road the flapping stopped, but the alternator light didn't come on so we assume that it was the shredded bits letting go and all would be OK.

Which so far it was been... which is nice.

We made it! The car on the channel tunnel shuttle

Yesterday we did a half day start to sorting out the house. The dishwasher and washing machine are attached and working, and the kitchen is organised. We also discussed the garden, and I have been looking at my options for getting the rest of our stuff here - there are 4 or 5 cartons and 2 dozen plants to bring (if we can). After checking the price of hiring a van and driving to London and back (which is more expensive that paying someone else to do the same thing) I have decided to drive back with the trailer, pick up what I can, donate the rest to charity and then drive to Preuilly. Again.

I had hoped that sort of thing was behind me.

We went for a walk yesterday evening.
This is the Lavoir, Preuilly sur Claise.

Last night we had a thunderstorm that seemed to go on for ever. This meant I had to walk all around the house checking the guttering hadn't blocked while we were away, and that the gullies that take the water from the downpipes were flowing properly. After that I had to check the barn to make sure it wasnt leaking on all our posessions, and then move some boxes away from where water was seeping under the front door (My woodworking last year was only 95% effective). At about midnight the thunder had stopped, but Susan says it returned later in the morning. I didn't hear that, nor did I hear the garbage truck arriving at 5.00am. I was sleeping the sleep of the just.

I am extra special chuffed by the fact I had washed some bathtowels yesterday and they were on the line during the rain. This means I get fluffy towels, something we never managed in London because we had to dry everything on racks inside the house.

Simon